Mel Riggin did a lot for the sports community in Kincardine, says Keith Davidson

To the Editor:

In sadness, I read last week that my old friend, Sally (Riggin) Boileau, died. She was a member of the first family of hockey in Kincardine, the Riggin family. For years, she was an active volunteer at the Paddy Walker House and in 2009, she organized the best display of Kincardine hockey history and memorabilia that was ever witnessed in town. It was magnificent! 

In appreciation of her efforts bringing the display to fruition, I did a story for her about the memories I had about her dad, Mel Riggin. I thought maybe since Sally just died, your readers (especially those 50 years of age and over) might be interested in hearing my “Mel” story, in her memory.

MY MEMORIES OF MEL RIGGIN

Every new year, my New Year's resolutions are always the same: - lose 15 pounds, be more organized, be less grumpy, start listening carefully to Lola (she is always right, darn it!). I always have good intentions in January but after that, things seem to fall off the rails and go downhill.

Anyway, yesterday as is always my practice in the first two weeks after New Year's, I became "more organized" and I tried to clean out all the extraneous things in my files, put the loose pictures/articles in my photo album/scrap book, etc.
So what did I find in my big stack of "2009 things?" I found my file on "The Great Kincardine Hockey Trivia Contest 2009" for the Hockey Time in Kincardine Program, organized by Sally Boileau and her committee, organized at the Paddy Walker House March 1 to April 30. What a magnificent program it was too!

So, I started to read all the questions and answers I submitted to for the Trivia Contest that ran on the radio for a month. Lard Tunderin' Geejus, I must have given you close to 100 questions/answers! It's deja vu all over again, as Yogi would say. I started to chuckle reading some of the questions - a lot of great memories came flooding back into my old brain.
I think I am going to make a copy of them and send them off to my old "rink rats," Jimmy Bell, Terry O'Brien, Tom Cuyler, Leon Wilson, Weiner Collins, etc. and to some of my old friends, Nute Catto, Harold Maurer, Dalton Leach, in case they did not hear the questions asked on the radio. I am going to  tell them not to cheat either - they have to take a ruler and hide the answers as they go down each page. No peeking!
 
There was one name that came up four or five times in the ‘correct’ answers. The name was Mel Riggin, my old friend! While I am thinking about him I want to offer some of my memories of Mel.
 
When I came to work for the Town of Kincardine in the fall of 1960, I was really young and wet-behind-the-ears, so to speak. I had a tough job in a dual position, recreation director/arena manager, with a staff of one, Doug Fry, the cemetery caretaker, who worked at the arena from November to the end of March.

Thank God for my "rink rats," God bless 'em all! Working in the recreation field back in the '60s was different than it is today where recreation services are now accepted as an essential service. I worked long, long hours trying to pioneer things through. Pioneer is a good word. That's what we were in the recreation field back in "the old days," pioneers!
 
Mel did a lot for me over the years. The first couple of years in town, I had two town councillors who gave me a hard time every chance they got. They thought my position should never have been established and that I should never have been hired. Mel stuck up for me - I know that he  took the two councillors to task  (as only Mel could do) when they came in to get gas from him. I know that because he told everybody in town that he had! I always appreciated him sticking up for me so vociferously. That doesn't mean that I never got a “stern talking to” myself from Mel - I got a couple of doozies from him, and I deserved them!
 
I used to get my gas once or twice a week at Mel's and then go in and sit on one of the four old tin chairs in the garage's vestibule for a half-hour and listen to Mel as he held court behind the counter (he always stood, he never sat), talking about various and sundry affairs in the community. What I liked about Mel was that with him, things were either black or white - there was no grey. He just told things the way he saw things - he would tell you things straight to your face - he didn't stick-handle around issues probably because he was an old goalie from away back! I used to get such a kick out of Mel holding court in "his office" in the garage - one of my great memories.
 
The thing I liked to hear Mel talk about best was Denny. I loved when he would tell us what Denny was up to when he played with The Spitfires and then the current things when he played with Edmonton and Detroit in the '60s. It was fascinating to hear all the happenings with Denny in the professional hockey world. I loved it! 



Hockey celebrities at the "Hockey Time in Kincardine" exhibit, held at the Walker House in 2009, include, back, Ian McKegney (left), Brent Armstrong, Keith Davidson, Dennis Riggin, Dave Riggin; and in front, Jordan Willis (left), Travis Riggin, Tyler Murray

My favourite story was the time when Mel was down in Windsor for a Spitfire game and all through the game, there was an opposition player who was interfering with Denny in his crease, laying the lumber on him (Denny) and all the time chirping away at Denny. Mel said there was a stoppage in play on the blue line along the boards in the third period and Denny skated over to it and hammered the begeezus out of the opposition player who had been harassing him throughout the game. It was priceless to hear Mel tell the story!

Mel did a great deal of good over the years in the sports community - always behind the scenes!  He was forever calling me up and telling me to tell the parents driving players to an out-of-town hockey or ball game that night to come over for a free fill-up of gas before they left for the game. He was always doing this! What a guy! He gave me quite a few fill-ups over the years, too, and me being tight with a buck I can't tell you how much I appreciated it. 

When I was coaching Mike's or Dave's teams, when their team had an away game, he would always call me to tell me that Dickie would be driving that night and I should go with her and the boys. I think she took Mike and Dave and a back seat of their teammates to every hockey game they ever played when they travelled out of town. I used to like going with Dickie - Mel always had a great big new comfortable riding car and Dickie used to tell me all kinds of Kincardine historical stories on the way to the games.

Mel did not go to too many hockey games at the old Lambton Street Arena (he was just like my uncles who were dairy farmers - he had to work "16/7") but when he did come to a game he would more often than not slip a $20 bill to either the coach or manager of the Kincardine minor hockey team and tell him to "buy the boys a couple of hot dogs and a pop after the game at the booth." Hot dogs cost 25 cents and a pop was 15 cents so there was often money left over to buy the boys a chocolate bar too.

I don't know where Mel would pick up hockey sticks. I think he hit up salesmen who dropped in to get the latest news about Denny at the garage, and told them to bring him a load of good hockey sticks at a good price the next time they rolled in to town. At least twice a year - once before Christmas and once after Christmas - Mel would drop off hockey sticks to my office and tell me to "give them to kids who could use them!"

Remember this was in the '60s, well before Ontario Hydro/Douglas Point - Kincardine had two furniture factories, and parents were not flush with money. Kids never had two sticks when they came to a game like they do today - when they broke a stick back then, they were out of luck and had to borrow a stick from a teammate when there was a line change. I would always give half the sticks Mel gave me to the out-of-town teams to keep on the bench in case somebody broke a stick in a game or at a practice. I used to give the other half of Mel's sticks to special kids who were using old road hockey sticks for their competitive games (their parents often didn't have the bucks to buy their boys a good new stick). I used to tell Mel how much his sticks were appreciated - he used to give a couple of grumps and say "good!"

Speaking about hockey sticks, early on a bright November afternoon, Mel came into my office wearing his big, old black sunglasses, and carrying about a dozen-and-a-half hockey sticks. Well sir, it was just like yesterday - I can still see it - as he came in my office door, he tripped on the threshold and went ass-over-tea-kettle, with the sticks flying everywhere. It was just like a big game of "pick-up sticks" with Mel in the middle of them. He picked himself up, muttering a few choice expletives, took his big black sunglasses off and left without saying a thing (other than the expletives).

I don't know if he hit up the same salesmen as he did for the hockey sticks, but Mel Riggin would buy all kinds of baseball equipment every year for our minor ball teams - boxes of baseballs, boxes of bats, boxes of catchers equipment. He would drop the baseball stuff off at my office and tell me it was for the kids and to make the best use of it we could. We always did! It was like Christmas every spring when Mel would drop off those boxes. The equipment went a long way.
You know, thinking back, I can't ever remember having the press take a picture of Mel presenting sports equipment for the kids. That was a mistake! I probably tried on a few occasions but knowing Mel he would not have let them take his picture.

Time moved on - what goes around comes around - and Mel's grandkids used to be the topic of many of Mel's stump speeches as he held court in his favourite spot behind the counter. Larry and Pat played for the London Knights Junior A team and I used to quiz Mel all the time about how they were doing. He told me lots of good stories.

My favourite, though, was not when Pat played goal for the Knights, it was when he was 12 years old and used to ride shotgun in Mel's car when he and his Granddad would go to the horse races in Goderich. Mel told me that one night, he had a sizable bet on a certain horse in the fifth race that he was tipped off was going to win. When the horse came in fourth, Mel said that Pat rushed away from him, ran down the rail and shouted to the driver as he circled his horse back to the spectators, "Driver, you couldn't drive a hot poker in to a snow bank!"

Another one about Pat when he was 12, Larry and Pat were always up in Kincardine for the whole summer each year when they were kids. Pat was a frequent visitor at the old Lambton Street Arena for roller-skating, ball hockey with the "rink rats," etc. One night, Pat and his pal, Geoff Graham, were raising a little hell in the rink - I forget what it was (just kid stuff) but I caught them, blistered them and told them they were "gone from the rink for a week!"

Two days later, I was in my office and heard a rap on the door - I opened it and it was Pat standing there. He said, "Mr. Davidson, I should not have been doing what I was doing in the arena the other day and I have come to apologize to you."  

I told Pat that  I appreciated him coming up to me to apologize for what he and Geoff had done and that I accepted his apology but he was still gone for the rest of the week. I don't know who told Pat to apologize to me, either Denny or Mel, but I always admired Pat for having the guts to come back and apologize in such a respectful and polite way. Not many kids would have done what he did. Later that week, when I went to get gas at Mel's, I thought he would give me a verbal lashing for kicking Pat out of the arena for the week, but all Mel said was, “Guess Pat learned his lesson!" Whew!

The old clock kept ticking away and pretty soon it is time for Travis to start playing hockey in the '80s. Dave was up at Hydro then and didn't get home until after 5 p.m. Tyke practice started at 4:30 p.m. every Thursday. So, Mel would bring five-year-old Travis up to the Complex at 4 p.m. every Thursday to put on his equipment, tighten up his skates and stay to  watch him practise.

He did this for two years when Travis was five and six years old. I coached the Tyke program for years. In the second half of the season, after Christmas, after their skating and puck-handling drills, I would let the kids form up into three different parts of the arena and have three games of "keep-away" and then maybe a 10-minute "real" game cross ice at the end of the session.

So, one day, in the lead-up drills, I spent more than 30 minutes showing the wee lads how to make use of their feet in controlling the puck when they had over-skated it. I had all kinds of drills where the kids practised controlling the puck with their skates only, up and down the ice - no sticks - just pucks! Then for their "real game" at the end of the session, I had them play it with just their skates and one puck.

When the practice was over, I just happened to be right behind “Travey" as the players were leaving the ice. Mel was right at the door to meet Travis coming off the ice and in a very loud voice that could be heard by me and everybody else, he hollered, “TRAVIS, WHEN I SIGNED YOU UP, I DIDN'T SIGN YOU UP FOR SOCCER, I SIGNED YOU UP FOR HOCKEY!" It broke me up! As I said, that's what I liked about Mel, he told it the way he saw it!

You know, I always regretted not getting a picture of Mel carrying Travey's hockey bag and stick up the ramp into the front doors every Thursday. I used to go down for the mail every day at 3:45 p.m. And, invariably, when I would get back at 4 p.m., there would be old Mel, slightly stooped over, carrying Travis’ bag/stick with Travey right beside him. I said to myself on many occasions, "Davidson, one of these days, you have to take a picture from behind Mel and Travis as they head into Tyke practise!" I never did, darn it! It would have been a keeper hanging right beside the one Pat autographed for me when he was playing for the Bruins. It would have been a classic - "one for the ages," so to speak.

So, the clock finally stopped for Mel, and he died. At his request, there was no public funeral service. I always thought that when Mel died and when the funeral procession/hearse/cars, etc., were leaving the cemetery, I would from a distance at the back of the cemetery, play a slow tune on my pipes like “Going Home” or “Amazing Grace,” just to pay my respects.

Donnie Miller told me something I never forgot.  He said that when the hearse drove over to the cemetery with Mel's earthly remains, it stopped at his old garage, Mel's Texaco, and got a fill-up of gas. I had to chuckle about that. If the story is not true, please don't tell me. I prefer to think that they gave Mel a fill-up on his final drive!

For many, many years, I wore No. 9 with Mel's Texaco printed on the back of my Bulldog sweater. When the club got new ones, we got to keep our old sweaters. I used mine as my practice jersey for years right up through old-timer hockey. My oldest granddaughter, Amelia, has the nickname Mel. When she reached Bantam and Midget girls hockey ranks, I gave it to her for her practice sweater - she loved wearing it - Mel's Texaco No. 9. 

The sweater is still in remarkably good shape - base colour is red with white-and-black trim - the huge Bulldog crest on the front is still in good shape. The lettering on the back, while easily read, is starting to fade. If any of the Riggin clan would like to have this Mel's Texaco sweater for a souvenir, I would be glad to give it to them. If someone did want it, I would take it to Presto Crest and have Derrick Burrows put some more colouring on the back lettering. Let me know if anybody wants it.

So here I am, three score and 10 years! Time is moving on! I am just like my old friend, Mel - I am getting old. My hair has turned white just like his - one difference, though, when I take my hat off, I don't have any hair! Lordy, I wish I had a full head of white hair like Mel had all through his years. I sometimes stoop over a bit when I walk, just like Mel did. And ... I often get grumpy as all get out just like Mel did!

Mel was a good man! He was good to me!
 
Slainte Mhath! 
Keith Davidson
Kemble Shore and Kincardine